DOOMSDAY DUO | skephalo

ii. FAKE NEWS.. OR IS IT?

chapter two,
fake news.. or is it?

I⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯I

zak's pov

after what felt like hours but was actually 26 minutes, i finally heard my mom yelling my name. i quickly jumped off my gaming chair and ran downstairs. after i finally got there (without tripping down the stairs somehow), i was met with the older boy smiling at my mom. i ran to him and gave him a hug, even though i knew he absolutely despises them. he reluctantly hugged me back as he whispered in my ear, "i know you did that on purpose, you muffinhead." that made me giggle.

"whats your name young man?" my mom questioned darryl.

"oh, my names dar-"

"hes darryl noveschosch. hes my friend," i interrupted darryl, which earned me a slight nudge in return.

"youre right, but i couldve said it myself you know," darryl stated.

my mom chuckled, then turned to me, giving me the "he seems nice" face. finally, she likes something related to me.

. . .

"cant we do it later?" i whined as darryl was looking for the history papers in his backpack.

"we have to do it now, i dont wanna procrastinate!" darryl exclaimed.

i raised an eyebrow. "when is it due then?"

"i dont know," he claimed as he continued searching for said papers.

"yeah you do!"

"ugh, its due on the 13th."

"its due in 10 days?! what the fudge darryl!"

"language!"

"i said fudge!"

"no you didnt!"

"did so!"

"did not!"

"DID SO!"

"okay okay, i believe you!"

"can we go watch tv or something?" i grunted. a few seconds later, he sighed and finally agreed. i grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the living room, despite his protests against it.

. . .

"what the heck? why is the news everywhere? even the cartoon and cooking shows, they all show the news," i questioned while restlessly clicking on all of the buttons on the tv remote and accidentally muting it, leaving awkward silence between us.

"that either means its important or your tv sucks," darryl teased.

"oh shut up!" i exclaimed, then heard my mom shush me from the kitchen.

"jokes aside, i think we should actually listen to it. chances are its important if its taking over all tv channels," darryl informed me.

i groaned. "okay okay, but if its something stupid then im leaving."

"it wont be," he assured.

i unmuted the tv just to hear the woman frantically talking quickly. i tried to listen in and try to understand what was happening, but she was talking too fast for me to comprehend her words. i tried looking down at the banner, hoping it gave at least some context about what was going on.

then i saw it.

"BREAKING NEWS: 1950 DA, an extremely powerful asteroid that has the ability to wipe out all of humanity, is spotted and expected to hit earth on March 4th, 2020 at approximately 4:30 pm. Please take shelter in a bunker or basement underground. God bless America."

i started shaking in fear, and felt darryl doing so too. i could even see a tear drop onto his shirt from the corner of my eye.

"m-mom.. did you see this news?" i questioned quietly. its surprising my mom would have even heard me from the kitchen, my voice was so small and shaky it was barely audible.

my mom sighed. "yes, but its a hoax trying to scare people into thinking we're all gonna die. now could you call your sister to come downstairs? she isnt answering me."

"yeah, sure." i turned my head to look at darryl, and sure enough, he was crying. i felt so bad. i pushed myself closer to him and wrapped my arms around him as an attempt to calm him down. im not the best at comforting, but its good enough.

"d-do you think t-this is r-r-real..?" darryls voice cracked a little as he silently sobbed.

"real or not, its all gonna be okay, and ill be with you no matter what," i tried to comfort the crying boy.

after a few minutes of silence (other than the sound of pots clanking together, the tv put down to 9% volume, and darryls sobs), darryl finally calmed down.

"well, i dont think you even have at least a basement, so we can go to mine. i have a huge bunker filled with food and water that can last for months," bad said with a weak smile. it seemed like he was attempting to convince himself that everything will be fine, but was failing miserably.

"what about my mom though? if she doesnt believe in it, neither will my sister. theyre practically the same people, just in a different font." i stated as i looked down to the floor.

darryl ruffled my hair, making it all messy. "try as much as you can to convince them. if it doesnt work, then its okay. your safety is more important, and plus, you did warn them." he shrugged as i stared at him with an overdramatic shocked expression.

"hey, that sounds so sad!"

"a- im sorry! i didnt meant it like that, im just trying to help!"

"wait, so after school we immediately go to your house and hide there?" i asked darryl, quickly changing the subject as i tried to fix my hair again.

"yeah i guess. we should be in the bunker at about 4 o'clock," darryl stated and got up.

i looked up at him awkwardly, not knowing what to say or do now.

"what are you staring at? go pack your things you dunderhead, quick quick quick!" darryl exclaimed as he pushed me to my room.